The 2000s are long enough now that can we look back on them through a nostalgic lens (while also wondering where we went wrong). There’s so much fondly remembered pop culture from the era, particular movies.
It was truly a golden age of films centered around young characters trying to figure out the world, especially young women. While we watched them dozens of times, and save them for our sick days, there are those behind-the-scenes facts we truly had no idea about. Don’t worry, prepare to be mindblown.
28.
Lindsay Lohan’s character in Freaky Friday was originally written as goth, but they changed it because Lohan didn’t think it was a good idea.
27.
Bend It Like Beckham was almost released in the U.S. as Move It Like Mia (as in Mia Hamm) because the studio wasn’t sure Americans would know soccer star David Beckham, or what “bend it” meant.
26.
Parminder Nagra played a character a decade younger than she was in real life.
25.
To play pre-makeover Mia in The Princess Diaries, Anne Hathaway wore fake eyebrows…and then they just removed them. Instant makeover!
24.
When Anne Hathaway is dancing on the wet bleachers and she falls down, that wasn’t scripted—that’s a real blooper filmmaker kept in the movie.
23.
In The Princess Diaries books, Mia and Michael stay together. New romantic boys had to be thought up for The Princess Diaries 2 because Robert Schwartzman, the guy who played Michael, couldn’t do the movie because of his band’s tight touring schedule.
22.
Relatively unknown actress Piper Perabo won the lead role in Coyote Ugly over Jessica Simpson and Jewel.
21.
Perabo did her own singing for the movie, but filmmakers ultimately decided to get Leann Rimes to overdub.
20.
When Mean Girls started auditions, Rachel McAdams tried out to play Cady, and Lindsay Lohan wanted to play Regina. (Ultimately McAdams played Regina and Lohan got the role of Cady.)
19.
In Mean Girls, they got the chihuahua to bite Amy Poehler’s nipples by pinning a sausage inside her bra.
18.
Blake Lively’s real dad plays her character’s dad in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
17.
Amanda Bynes underwent two months of soccer training to play Viola in She’s the Man.
16.
2000s teen idol Jesse McCartney almost played Viola’s brother, Sebastian, in She’s the Man because filmmakers thought he and Bynes looked a lot alike.
15.
The initial movie posters for What a Girl Wants depicted Amanda Bynes doing a peace sign. Warner Bros. removed the peace sign when the movie was released—it was around the time of the second Gulf War, and they didn’t want moviegoers to think the movie was offering up some kind of war protest.
14.
As written, the kids in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen don’t ask permission to hit the concert and do it anyway.
13.
Julia Stiles believes that her dance scene in 10 Things I Hate About You secured her dance-heavy role in Save the Last Dance.
12.
The makers of Crossroads were so worried that paparazzi would hound Britney Spears that they frequently changed the film’s working title on film permits to throw them off the scent.
11.
Beyond contractual obligations, Britney Spears had just two on-set requests: to be provided with edamame and Lunchables.
10.
A singer/actor named Drew Seely auditioned to play Troy in High School Musical. Zac Efron got the role, but Seely did all of Efron’s singing.
9.
Lucas Grabeel got the role of Ryan after unsuccessfully auditioning to play Troy.
8.
Filmmakers almost had Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo play the 13-year-old versions of their characters in 13 Going on 30.
7.
Bring It On was originally going to be an MTV documentary about competitive cheerleading.
6.
Having just played “dumb blonde” Kelly Bundy on Married…with Children for 10 years, Christina Applegate turned down the role of Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. (She’s said she regrets it.)
5.
Producers let Reese Witherspoon keep her costumes from Legally Blonde, and she still has them.
4.
All of the singing for Hilary Duff in The Lizzie McGuire Movie was performed by Duff’s sister, Haylie Duff.
3.
The movie version of The Devil Wears Prada is a lot different from the book. The movie is a coming-of-age story; the book is a story of revenge and fashion industry satire.
2.
Rachel McAdams was the first choice to play Andy, but she wanted to take a break from making big Hollywood movies.
1.
Stanley Tucci (Nigel) later married the sister of his The Devil Wears Prada co-star, Emily Blunt.